Vantage Point (2008)

Brilliant

Absolutely brilliant story telling. We get to see several perspective on the same event and how it affects different persons involved. The camera shots were a masterpiece...makes you feel as if you were there in the midst of the chaos. As for the car chase scene...it was the icing on the cake for that thriller suspense. September 1, 2008

From My Vantage Point It is one of the Worst

This movie sports an all-star cast, but that is about all it has going for it. Firstly, it is too short for all the action in it yet it still tries to develop characters and that just falls flat. We get about 30 seconds of a character's background. Secondly, the events are completely unreasonable. The details of the terrorist attack are just non-sensical considering the amount of the security that occurs in any function involving the President. A few terrorists kill a troop of secret service men as if those guarding the President were henchman working for Dr. Evil in an Austin Power's movie. Thirdly, no reason is ever given for why a group of hodge-podge Moroccans would kill dozens of innocent people and the President of the USA. The characters in on the plot could or would never pull it off either.

The worst aspect of the movie is the attempt to create suspense by continually rewinding the events and showing the same time period from about 6-7 different characters' "vantage points." The result is that it completely disrupts any flow the movie would have and prevents viewers from connecting with any of the characters. All-in-all it leads to only about 15 mins. worth of actual time passing in the movie's events.

The ending also is illogical, not to mention the impossibility of a secret service agent in a high speed chase through unfamilar narrow streets filled with cars and pedstrians, on the sidewalk, down stairs, shifting, sliding, turning, etc and of course making cell phone calls, then getting completely smashed by a big truck and a wall, and surprise..getting out and chasing down the bad guys. August 31, 2008

My perspective

I enjoyed this movie, and I enjoyed the gimmick of the film. One of my favorite books is Orson Scott Cards "Ender's Shadow", which is exactly the same story as his book "Enders Game" except it is told by a different character. While "Vantage Point" doesn't rise anywhere near to the books I just mentioned, I like that looking from different viewpoints and vantage points can make a story quite different. In this film, it was interesting trying to figure out who were the bad guys before you see for yourself, and it had the effect of going to a criminal trial, and hearing testimony from different individuals to get at the truth. If that sounds like fun to you, then you will probably like this as well.

On the downside, the story that turned out to be the actual events was quite convoluted, and pretty implausible. Some little things about the main characters motivation were not fleshed out enough to engage an emotional response from the audience.

So here's the deal,

I enjoyed vantage point as an UNBOX rental, but probably won't be buying the DVD.
3 1/2 * August 31, 2008

Exciting thriller

This is one of those movies that makes you sit in your seat and wonder whats going to happen next. I couldn't wait to the ending to figure out how it happened and who did it. Dennis Quad gives a great performance. The flashbacks would sometimes got repetitive in the beginning but at the end it was well worth it. Great story very fun! August 30, 2008

stop remaking the classics!

A mediocre drama that does yet another spin of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomonidea. Vantage Point not only fails miserably, but it becomes melodramatic, formulaic, with a traditional Hollywood happy ending. What a strong political statement this movie could've made; what a bore it was instead!
August 28, 2008

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